Blown up and Devastated
- Thread starter giannos
- Start date
Giannos--I mentioned earlier I think you were performing pretty well before you dramatically increased your size.
You are getting too pissed about those trades.
One of the main reason you suffered big losses was due to some of the difficulties inherent with trading size...: you don't have the same commitment you have when trading small and a few cents losses can open a void in your stomach.
IMO once you get your strength back and your size under control you'll be on top of things.
You are getting too pissed about those trades.
One of the main reason you suffered big losses was due to some of the difficulties inherent with trading size...: you don't have the same commitment you have when trading small and a few cents losses can open a void in your stomach.
IMO once you get your strength back and your size under control you'll be on top of things.
Thanx Bitstream:
the poblem I have with trading small lots is this ....The emotion just isnt the same...For example trading 100 shares af ABC and it moves against me 20 cents...I'm offside only $20 bucks now and it doesnt "feel" that bad...As compared to if that was 5k and I was offside a grand....
how does a person keep objective and stick to their stops even if they are really only offside peanuts?
the poblem I have with trading small lots is this ....The emotion just isnt the same...For example trading 100 shares af ABC and it moves against me 20 cents...I'm offside only $20 bucks now and it doesnt "feel" that bad...As compared to if that was 5k and I was offside a grand....
how does a person keep objective and stick to their stops even if they are really only offside peanuts?
The problem with daytrading is you must plan a whole trade out in a short space of time under pressure.
It requires you have a deep confidence and understanding of you trading method which comes with time......
unfortunately the way you are going your time will be up sooner than you think.
Put your money aside, The market isn't going anywhere. You need more practice.
Be very careful with your capital!!!
It requires you have a deep confidence and understanding of you trading method which comes with time......
unfortunately the way you are going your time will be up sooner than you think.
Put your money aside, The market isn't going anywhere. You need more practice.
Be very careful with your capital!!!
Giannos-- you should increase size slowly step by step: 100-200-300 etc. get comfortable with the amount and then try increasing further.
And above all you shouldn't jump into trade with massive size if setups are not absolutely perfect, you can always start small and increase once the trade is going your direction.
This may seem evident but there isn't much else you ought to do to became efficient if you have already shown you can be profitable...
...it is just a question of refining and containing better your losses.
My 2c.
Piero
PS: using patience when increasing size you'll adapt, your account will adapt and at anytime youll give your stops the respect they deserve.
And above all you shouldn't jump into trade with massive size if setups are not absolutely perfect, you can always start small and increase once the trade is going your direction.
This may seem evident but there isn't much else you ought to do to became efficient if you have already shown you can be profitable...
...it is just a question of refining and containing better your losses.
My 2c.
Piero
PS: using patience when increasing size you'll adapt, your account will adapt and at anytime youll give your stops the respect they deserve.
Again, the problem here is that you are focused on the money aspect of your trading activities. While you are learning, this is the wrong focus despite what anyone anywhere tells you. Holding on to a $0.20 loss on 100 shares is very poor form if this is outside of your loss limit on that trade. Your objective is to be an awesome trader not one that can swing size and stroke your ego talking about it. Also, your objective right now is not to make a living trading. It is simply to trade well with a good plan, managed risk and consistency in execution and profitability. Read that sentence again and again. If you focus as much as your are now on the $$ behind the trade, then you will likely be a statistic.
The purpose of trading 100 shares is to learn to execute a trade as planned, to hold on to it as planned and to cut it as planned. If you will be scalping, then one of your key skills will be to instinctively execute your plan with little intellect or thought. Once you have this process automated in your mind, then you will be able to execute the same way with 500 shares, 1000, 2000 or 20,000 (assuming you mature properly through the process). If you haven't developed enough to trust your ability to execute a trade or stop loss, then you will not have the confidence to cut a bad trade in case of surprises.
Let me know if this doesn't make sense to you.
Good advice. Most traders increase their size through an ego driven process rather than emotional maturity, discipline and consistency.
"I suppose I expected to blow up sooner or later, but a part of me wanted to think that I could be exempt from the 95%"
All of yor being has to be determined to master the game or it will never happen. The game is everchanging for the very simple reason that everything is everchanging. Add to that that the players , percievers of the game, are ever changing and you have an interesting game. You have to find threads that run through it.
Futurestrader71 presents his usual excellent advice.
Nitro"s posts are critical for you, not knowing about S&P rebal is akin to a NASCAR driver not knowing it's raining. As isolated as daytrading appears to be it does exist within the larger reality. Everything you can imagine exist within the next larger reality until you can't imagine it anymore. The markets are no different. When Soros whacked the pound he had a clear view of the next largest reality.
You have to look in the mirror and see the truth about yourself:
The barriers to entry are nil, for a few bucks and a computer they even let you in and you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground about the game, in fact you very likely lost $$ on MSFT to some of the worlds best practitioners of the game. You got tackled by Ray Lewis who gets paid to hurt people. You have to see this truth. This doesn't mean you can't play, it just means you need to learn.Your determination has to be to learn.
Framing the questions leads to the solution logic, frame them properly and honestly or you won't extract relavent answers from your work and only have to do it over, keep your ego out of it, that is an accomplishment. At this point take a break, focus completely somewhere else just to break the continuity of your perception of the game .
edit:just saw ft71"s post re: focusing on the money, he couldn't be more right. It is the play that counts, excellence of play will create the $$. The fact that the points happen to be fungible into coin of the realm has to be incidental to the play while you are in it. Not everybody has the emotional makeup to arrive at that point of detachment .
All of yor being has to be determined to master the game or it will never happen. The game is everchanging for the very simple reason that everything is everchanging. Add to that that the players , percievers of the game, are ever changing and you have an interesting game. You have to find threads that run through it.
Futurestrader71 presents his usual excellent advice.
Nitro"s posts are critical for you, not knowing about S&P rebal is akin to a NASCAR driver not knowing it's raining. As isolated as daytrading appears to be it does exist within the larger reality. Everything you can imagine exist within the next larger reality until you can't imagine it anymore. The markets are no different. When Soros whacked the pound he had a clear view of the next largest reality.
You have to look in the mirror and see the truth about yourself:
The barriers to entry are nil, for a few bucks and a computer they even let you in and you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground about the game, in fact you very likely lost $$ on MSFT to some of the worlds best practitioners of the game. You got tackled by Ray Lewis who gets paid to hurt people. You have to see this truth. This doesn't mean you can't play, it just means you need to learn.Your determination has to be to learn.
Framing the questions leads to the solution logic, frame them properly and honestly or you won't extract relavent answers from your work and only have to do it over, keep your ego out of it, that is an accomplishment. At this point take a break, focus completely somewhere else just to break the continuity of your perception of the game .
edit:just saw ft71"s post re: focusing on the money, he couldn't be more right. It is the play that counts, excellence of play will create the $$. The fact that the points happen to be fungible into coin of the realm has to be incidental to the play while you are in it. Not everybody has the emotional makeup to arrive at that point of detachment .
I dunno, I think his post was a bit harsh but I mean come on.. the original poster sounded like a poster-child for the anti-efficient market camp. How could you not laugh? Maybe im just an ass..